to hold up; support: to bear the weight of the roof. to hold or remain firm under (a load): The roof will not bear the strain of his weight. to bring forth (young); give birth to: to bear a child. to produce by natural growth: a tree that bears fruit. to hold up under; be capable of: His claim doesn’t bear close examination. to press or push against: The crowd was borne back by the police. to hold or carry (oneself, one’s body, one’s head, etc.): to bear oneself erectly. to conduct (oneself): to bear oneself bravely. to suffer; endure; undergo: to bear the blame. to sustain without yielding or suffering injury; tolerate (usually used in negative constructions, unless qualified): I can’t bear your nagging. I can hardly bear to see her suffering so. to be fit for or worthy of: It doesn’t bear repeating. to carry; bring: to bear gifts. to carry in the mind or heart: to bear love; to bear malice. to transmit or spread (gossip, tales, etc.). to render; afford; give: to bear witness; to bear testimony. to lead; guide; take: They bore him home. to have and be entitled to: to bear title. to exhibit; show: to bear a resemblance. to accept or have, as an obligation: to bear responsibility; to bear the cost. to stand in (a relation or ratio); have or show correlatively: the relation that price bears to profit. to possess, as a quality or characteristic; have in or on: to bear traces; to bear an inscription. to have and use; exercise: to bear authority; to bear sway. to tend in a course or direction; move; go: to bear west; to bear left at the fork in the road. to be located or situated: The lighthouse bears due north. to bring forth young or fruit: Next year the tree will bear. bear down,

to press or weigh down. to strive harder; intensify one’s efforts: We can’t hope to finish unless everyone bears down. Nautical. to approach from windward, as a ship: The cutter was bearing down the channel at twelve knots.

bear down on/upon,

to press or weigh down on. to strive toward. to approach something rapidly. Nautical. to approach (another vessel) from windward: The sloop bore down on us, narrowly missing our stern.

bear off,

Nautical. to keep (a boat) from touching or rubbing against a dock, another boat, etc. Nautical. to steer away. Backgammon. to remove the stones from the board after they are all home.

bear on/upon, to affect, relate to, or have connection with; be relevant to: This information may bear on the case. bear out, to substantiate; confirm: The facts bear me out. bear up, to endure; face hardship bravely: It is inspiring to see them bearing up so well. bear with, to be patient or forbearing with: Please bear with me until I finish the story. bring to bear, to concentrate on with a specific purpose: Pressure was brought to bear on those with overdue accounts.verb (mainly transitive) bears, bearing, bore, borne to support or hold up; sustain to bring or convey: to bear gifts to take, accept, or assume the responsibility of: to bear an expense (past participle bornin passive use except when foll by by) to give birth to: to bear children (also intransitive) to produce by or as if by natural growth: to bear fruit to tolerate or endure: she couldn’t bear him to admit of; sustain: his story does not bear scrutiny to hold in the conscious mind or in one’s feelings: to bear a grudge, I’ll bear that idea in mind to show or be marked with: he still bears the scars to transmit or spread: to bear gossip to render or supply (esp in the phrase bear witness) to conduct or manage (oneself, the body, etc): she bore her head high to have, be, or stand in (relation or comparison): his account bears no relation to the facts (intransitive) to move, be located, or lie in a specified direction: the way bears east to have by right; be entitled to (esp in the phrase bear title) bear a hand, to give assistance bring to bear, to bring into operation or effect: he brought his knowledge to bear on the situationnoun (pl) bears, bear any plantigrade mammal of the family Ursidae: order Carnivora (carnivores). Bears are typically massive omnivorous animals with a large head, a long shaggy coat, and strong claws See also black bear, brown bear, polar bear related adjective ursine any of various bearlike animals, such as the koala and the ant bear a clumsy, churlish, or ill-mannered person a teddy bear (stock exchange)

a speculator who sells in anticipation of falling prices to make a profit on repurchase (as modifier): a bear market Compare bull1 (sense 5)

verb bears, bearing, beared (transitive) to lower or attempt to lower the price or prices of (a stock market or a security) by speculative sellingnoun the Bear the English name for Ursa Major, Ursa Minor an informal name for Russia v.

Ball bearings “bear” the friction. Many senses are from notion of “move onward by pressure.” Old English past tense bær became Middle English bare; alternative bore began to appear c.1400, but bare remained the literary form till after 1600. Past participle distinction of borne for “carried” and born for “given birth” is from late 18c. To bear (something) in mind is from 1530s. n.

Greek arktos and Latin ursus retain the PIE root word for “bear” (*rtko; see Arctic), but it is believed to have been ritually replaced in the northern branches because of hunters’ taboo on names of wild animals (cf. the Irish equivalent “the good calf,” Welsh “honey-pig,” Lithuanian “the licker,” Russian medved “honey-eater”). Others connect the Germanic word with Latin ferus “wild,” as if it meant “the wild animal (par excellence) of the northern woods.”

Symbolic of Russia since 1794. Used of uncouth persons since 1570s. Stock market meaning “speculator for a fall” is 1709 shortening of bearskin jobber (from the proverb sell the bearskin before one has caught the bear); i.e. “one who sells stock for future delivery, expecting that meanwhile prices will fall.” Paired with bull from c.1720. Bear claw as a type of large pastry is from 1942, originally chiefly western U.S.

noun

A capsule containing a narcotic (1960s+ Narcotics) A difficult school or college course (1960s+ Students) Anything arduous or very disagreeable; bitch: It’s been a bear of a morning •Bear is attested fr 1915 in a similar sense, ”doozie, humdinger” (1950s+) bearcat: Stokovich was a bear for records A large, gruff man

Related Terms

does a bear shit in the woods

[1700s+; sense perhaps influenced by 1930s jazz musicians’ use, ”an unhappy state or condition; impoverishment,” in which it was rhyming slang for ”nowhere”]

Related Terms

smokey bear

a native of the mountain regions of Western Asia, frequently mentioned in Scripture. David defended his flocks against the attacks of a bear (1 Sam. 17:34-37). Bears came out of the wood and destroyed the children who mocked the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 2:24). Their habits are referred to in Isa. 59:11; Prov. 28:15; Lam. 3:10. The fury of the female bear when robbed of her young is spoken of (2 Sam. 17:8; Prov. 17:12; Hos. 13:8). In Daniel’s vision of the four great monarchies, the Medo-Persian empire is represented by a bear (7:5).

bear a grudge bear down bear fruit bear in mind bear one’s cross bear out bear the brunt bear up bear with

bearing-down pain bearing-down pain n. A uterine contraction accompanied by straining and tenesmus, usually appearing in the second stage of labor. Historical Examples When the pains grow heavier we use less oxygen and permit three or four deep inhalations just before a bearing-down pain. The Mother and Her Child William S. Sadler

the manner in which one conducts or carries oneself, including posture and gestures: a man of dignified bearing. the act, capability, or period of producing or bringing forth: a tree past bearing. something that is produced; a crop. the act of enduring or capacity to endure. reference or relation (usually followed by on): It has […]

like a bear; rough, burly, or clumsy. Informal. grumpy, bad-mannered, or rude. Commerce. declining or tending toward a decline in prices. characterized by or reflecting unfavorable prospects for the economy or some aspect of it: a bearish market. Contemporary Examples Berkeley-based economist Enrico Moretti is also bearish on the future of the region. The Rustbelt […]

any of the plantigrade, carnivorous or omnivorous mammals of the family Ursidae, having massive bodies, coarse heavy fur, relatively short limbs, and almost rudimentary tails. any of various animals resembling the bear, as the ant bear. a gruff, burly, clumsy, bad-mannered, or rude person. a person who believes that market prices, especially of stocks, will […]

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